Computing cheese-cutter.



PATENTED NOV. 2l, 1905.

L. SWAINK.

COMPUTING CHEESE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED Amma. 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOF.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April13, 1905. Serial No. 255,273.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

T0 (tI/Z whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, LAFE SwANK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Computing Cheese-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

In the operation of cheese-cutters it is in most cases customary to cut the cheese into wedges either having a value of five cents or a multiple thereof or portions of a pound.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a simple means by which cheeses varying in total value by units of twentyfive cents may be readily subdivided into unit wedgessay five-cent units.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for holding a multiplicity of measuring cards or charts for use in connection with cheeses of different Weights and values and to provide means by which the indicatinghands used in connection therewith may be independently adjusted.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the edge of a rotary cheese-carrying table, such as that shown in my pending application, Serial No. 227,181, or in Patent No. 790,564, issued May 23, 1905, in connection with my improved adjustable stop and improved chartholder. Fig. 2 is a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a suitable supporting-base, and 13 a horizontal rotatable cheese-carrying table having on its lower face an annular gear 15, which is adapted to mesh with a pinion 16, journaled upon a vertical stationary pin 17, secured in the basefram'e 10. The gear 16 is provided with a smooth hub 16, upon which is journaled a yoke 18, in which is pivoted an operatinglever 19, provided with a cam-shaped end adapted to engage the hub 16 of the gear 16. Sleeved on the upper end of pin 17, upon the top of gear 16, are charts 24, which are held angularly in position by the key 22, one end of which projects into engagement with gear 16. Key 22 is carried by a plate 21, having a central sleeve, the purpose of which will appear. The gear 16 and charts 24 are inclosed in a casing 10, which is secured to or formed integral with the base 10. The part 10l is provided with a cover 10, having a segmental slot, beneath which is arranged a transparent cover 10".

Thus far the construction is substantially identical with that shown in my application already mentioned.

Sleeved upon the upper end of pin 17 is a sleeve 30, which passes through an opening formed inthe cover of 10 and the transparent cover 10 and carries at an intermediate point below the covers a disk 31, provided at one point with a thin radiallyextending finger or pointer 32. The sleeve 30 is provided at its outer end with a knurled head 33, adapted to be engaged by the fingers of the operator. Sleeved upon the sleeve 30 above disk 31, and also extending through the covers, is a sleeve 34, which at its inner end is provided with a disk 35, which carries a thin radial pointer or finger 36, and at its outer end, beneath head 33, is provided with a tail or finger piece 37, by means of which it may be independently rotated. The sleeve 34 has some frictional contact with lthe cover members and will therefore stand wherever placed irrespective of the rotation of the gear 16. The lower end of sleeve 30, however, is extended down below head 31 into the key-carrying plate 21 and fits the same with sufficient tightness to rotate therewith, but in such manner as to be independently rotatable when desired'. i

Each chart 24 is provided upon at least one face with a series of division-marks equally angularly spaced, and each of said disks is then properly marked to indicate the total weight of the cheese to be cut, the arrangement being such that if a cheese weighing twelve pounds is to be retailed by the quarter-pound one of the charts 24 will be provided with subdivisions so spaced that a movement of the pinion 16 through a space equal to one of the subdivisions will cause the cheese-carrying table to move through an angle suflicient to carry a one-quarter pound of cheese under the knife. In operation, therefore, the operator by grasping the head 33 and the tail 37 may shift the two pointers 32 and 36 until they come into alinement over one of the subdivisions of the chart. By reciprocating lever 19 the Gear 16 will be rotated in one direction until the finger 32, together with the chart, advances a desired number of subdivisions from the finger 36, which remains stationary. The two ingers may be adjusted to any desired position .los

Without movement of the cheese-carrying table.

It is often desirable to cut a given value of cheese, and for this purpose I provide a fixed stop 40, against which the lever 19 will be brought in its return stroke. The forward edge of the lever is then provided with a rounded extension 19@ which is adapted to be brought into engagement with any one of a plurality of stop -plates 41, which are mounted upon a shaft 42, supported on the member 10. The stop -plates 41 are arranged in groups to indicate total values of cheese varying in twenty-iive-cent units, and the thickness of these stop-plates is such that the distance between stop 40 and any plate is such as to permit the lever 1 9 to move sufiiciently to drive the table 13 forward a distance sufficient to carry five cents wort-h of a cheese having a total value indicated by that plate beneath the knife. The plates 40 are backed up by a somewhat stiffer plate or iinger 41', which when the lever 19 is to be used in connection with the charts for cutting cheese by the pound may be thrown up out of the path of movement of the lever, thus permitting said lever to have a very considerable stroke.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a cheese-cutter, the combination, with a cheese-carrier, of a reciprocating operating member therefor, and a pair of stops for determining movement of said member, one of said stops consisting of a plurality of plates arranged at various distances from the other stop and adapted to be thrown into or out of the path of movement of the member.

2. In a cheese-cutter, -the combination, with the main frame and the cheese-carrying table ljournaled thereon, of a rotatable element having intermediate driving connections with the table of such character that several rotations of said element are necessary to produce a single rotation of the cheesecarrying table, means for rotating said driving element, an angularly-adjustable indicator extending over said element, means for normally holding said indicator in any desired position of adjustment independent of the rotation of the rotating element, a second indicator carried by the rotating element and capable of independent angular movement thereon, whereby said second indicator will be rotated by the rotating element but may be rotated independently thereof, a transparent cover covering both indicators, and means for indicating the angle between the two indicators.

3. In a cheese-cutter, the combination, with a main frame and the cheese-carrying table journaled thereon, of a rotatable element havin' intermediate driving connections with tie table of such character that several rotations of said element are necessaryto produceasingle rotation of the cheesecarrying table, a iiXed pin forming an axis for said rotatable element and extending therethrough, a chart carried by said rotatable element, a station ary cover for said chart, an indicator member extending through said cover and having a frictional engagement with said rotatable member, said indicator member carrying an indicator-finger beneath the cover, and a second indicator member sleeved on the first indicator member and having a frictional engagement with the stationary part, said second member having an indicator arranged beneath the cover and an operating member outside of the cover, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

1. In a cheese-cutter, the combination, with a horizontally-rotatable cheese-table, of a reciprocating operating membertherefor, and a pair of stops for determining movement of said member, one of said stops consisting of a plurality of plates arranged at various distances from the other stop and adapted to be thrown int-o or out of the path of movement of the member.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Anderson, Indiana, this 6th day of April, A. D. 1905.

LAFE SVVANK. [1... sl Witnesses JULIA BoswELL, AGNES M. WILLIAMS. 

